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I thought I saw Gozo Sensei appear in a game show where he demonstrates aikido.. and the show host also got a chance taking ukemi from him. this is the video I think www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80JowaLZWw I don't understand everything they say though..

Cathe - You have a great point. Aikido would be a flop on TV. I saw some of the first season of Fear Factor, and it was really cool. Participants cheering each other on, facing fears of heights, taking on cool challenges, etc. I guess it didn't get good ratings, though, and quickly morphed into mean-spirited backstabbing, and seeing who could eat the most disgusting things. Bleh.

... I saw some of the first season of Fear Factor, and it was really cool. Participants cheering each other on, facing fears of heights, taking on cool challenges, etc. I guess it didn't get good ratings, though, and quickly morphed into mean-spirited backstabbing, and seeing who could eat the most disgusting things. Bleh.

I thought I saw Gozo Sensei appear in a game show where he demonstrates aikido.. and the show host also got a chance taking ukemi from him. this is the video I think www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80JowaLZWw I don't understand everything they say though..

The genre would be "martial arts reality shows". And it has been done. About four or five years ago there was a really lame show which pitted various types of martial artists together for "sparring" matches. I recall it embodying everything martial arts is NOT about, so I never really watched it.

Oh, I'm quite sure all there's more than enough romance, drama, humour, suspense and (especially) politics, if mostly beside the mat. At least the aikido community I know is not that "harmonious, free, uplifting, and not based on drama" - really, no. Hey, we're all human... so there's love, hate, personal feuds, just about anything you get with a large group of people (especially if they're all in one place for a camp!)

And btw, I don't believe there are any Krav Maga, Parachute jumping or Salsa dancing reality shows either (although I might be wrong with some of those), so I really don't believe it's a matter of "the spirit of aikido" - it's just neither common enough nor spectacular/exotic enough to be interesting to the viewers, really!

Is it weird that I was reading about the show Who Wants To Be A Superhero and imagining what a comic book hero who did Aikido would be like?

The show was pretty campy, but you actually got dinged for typical reality show scumbag tactics; it's a show about heroes after all. I imagined a character who had psychic empathy for other people's pain, and as part of her training studied aikido both to controll her reactions and to deal with bad guys in ways that would cause both them and herself the least pain.

Is it weird that I was reading about the show Who Wants To Be A Superhero and imagining what a comic book hero who did Aikido would be like?

The show was pretty campy, but you actually got dinged for typical reality show scumbag tactics; it's a show about heroes after all. I imagined a character who had psychic empathy for other people's pain, and as part of her training studied aikido both to controll her reactions and to deal with bad guys in ways that would cause both them and herself the least pain.

The genre would be "martial arts reality shows". And it has been done. About four or five years ago there was a really lame show which pitted various types of martial artists together for "sparring" matches. I recall it embodying everything martial arts is NOT about, so I never really watched it.

Fight Quest and Human Weapon weren't exactly reality shows, more documentary, but I found them pretty entertaining, despite the inaccuracy of some of their "facts".

Both shows went to Israel to experience Krav Maga, which were great episodes.

In an episode of Human Weapon the hosts learned "Ninjutsu" and sparred with a couple of Hatsumi's 15th dans and essentially beat them both, if I recall correctly. I found it particularly entertaining.

The hosts from Fight Quest headed to Brazil to learn BJJ and one of the hosts was completely manhandled by Kyra Gracie.

I thought I saw Gozo Sensei appear in a game show where he demonstrates aikido.. and the show host also got a chance taking ukemi from him. this is the video I think www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80JowaLZWw I don't understand everything they say though..

Thanks for sharing. Very good video. That is a pretty old video. From my guess it looks like late 80's early 90's from the female hair styles. That was the same timeframe I was living in Japan the first time. Again, thanks for sharing!